Regarding 3:45 Your not wearing a Tom Brady costume. Your just wearing a replica shirt. If you were wearing the full gear, pads and helmet included, then its a costume and then you get the same funny looks you would do if you wore a star fleet costume. A guy at my work came to work in a star fleet hoodie and no one batted an eyelid and if I show up in my american football shirt the same will happen. If he shows up in full costume, someone will say "Whats that for?"If I show up in a full american football outfit, someone will say "whats that for?"But then again I'm likely to show up in shorts tomorrow despite the snow and someone will say "Colin WTF ARE YOU DOIN?!?"

Also great slam on Twilight Fans by calling them Yankies Fans...hehehehe see what I did there?

Since this show debuted a month ago or so, I was left feeling a bit empty. I had the impression (which I still believe correct) that this would be a structured rant/discussion on issues around today. But with the first four videos, I didn't really feel that. It seemed more of an unstructured list of facts with no little redeeming value. But this week's video seems a bit different, a closed loop of discussion that can bring us to a new understanding or idea.

I still think The Big Picture can go further with this though. I love all your thoughts on pretty much everything Bob, but I think you can still get a bit more interesting and illuminating with the Big Picture.

It has to do with popularity. Few people play dungeons and dragons, tons of people play fantasy football. What is done by a few is viewed as strange and wierd. What is done by many is viewed as cool.

People playing fantasy football in the 1970s were nerds and dorks. Now there's celebrity fantasy football teams because everyone is playing it. It's all a game based on numbers and statistics, it's just popularity.

If you do what everyone else is doing - you're cool. If you're doing something different from the norm - you're strange. That's all it is.

SteelStallion:A jersey is a widely accepted piece of clothing. So wearing it is like wearing normal clothing. If your favorite character's costume is a T-shirt, then wearing it would be the same thing. No one will mind if you wear a shirt with the trekky ^ thing on it (don't eat me, not a Star Trek fan).

If you walk down the street with football gear and a Brady face mask (and it's not a football game), people will look at you funny. It's the same thing as wearing a costume to comic con.

Your logic is so flawed it's not even funny.

Actually, it's you who is missing the point that Bob is making. His entire point is that just because one is accepted doesn't make it any less nerdy than the other.

I've always seen this parallel between Geeks and Jocks.Its why I really dislike labelling people, since everyone just has their own interests.Although I've never thought about the mathematical side of things.

I've never done stand-up comedy but I did write a couple of jokes in the past that I would consider using if the opportunity ever struck. And one of them is directly related to this:

Why is it that when sports fans wear a jersey and go to games and paint their faces like a bunch of savages, almost nobody says anything about it? Think about that. That's absolutely abnormal behavior.

The answer to the question in the end is quite simple. Group Identity leads to who's in and who is out. Even "nerds" split dow to groups which not walk happily in hand with each other but looking down on each other. The analogies which are made between sports teams and diffrent "nerd" topics make this very clear. Twilight is like Yankees cause (insert reason). As soon as a group is formed people will tend to seem themselves in competition with other groups. So the question is not why don't we get along but why is this (sports) normal and this ("nerd culture") not. This is not a "Big Picture" it is an appeal to be less ignorant, stereotypical and xenophobic. You could've just broke it down to "we are all humans" which would be less entertaining and funny but still is the conclusion here.

actually that is NOT a good pointthere is actually ONE MAYOR DIFFERENCE between sports fans and "geeks/nerds/watever"

the sports fans support and show appreciation for REAL PEOPLE

"Superman" is "Babe Ruth"? thats not right, superman never existed, Babe ruth on the other hand is a REAL sports hero, he DID played and showed superiority, Superman comes from the imagination of some guy

PayJ567:Sports people are nothing like "nerds" they go out with loads of like minded people down to the pub and watch a game.

Nerds sit in cos play clothes watching anime on the internet and masturbating furiously.

I know right? You wear sports clothing to support the efforts of REAL PEOPLE doing REAL THINGS that actually require skill and commitment, not some fictional made-up shit that was only intended to make money off basement-dwellers.

Honestly, i really really hope this isn't meant seriously. Knowing this site, i'm inclined to believe it is, but I've seen far too many people act like this in real life to write it off. I really just don't understand why people can't accept that others have different interests, and that it doesn't make someone better or worse than anyone else (Coming from someone who loves sports and nerd stuff).

Awesome video. I remember seeing an article in "the onion" I read years about a sports fanatic expressing his ignorance about various nerd subcultures only to go on about famous sports games, players, and scores.

Was called a nerd just a few weeks ago by a friend that knows more about sports then I'll ever care to.

I'd say the comparison requires the person to also wear a helmet or wield a bat for it to be completely fair.

I can't say I mind how things are now. I think the best you can do is to try to find a middle ground yourself rather than going to the extreme in either direction. I personally hate both extremes. I hate people who can't shut up about sports and I hate people who can't shut up about comics etc.

When I can describe all the Alien and Predator movies in severe detail while some classmates havent even heard of them. (Blashpemy I tell you! These are movie classics except for AVP cause that is just shit) I often get called a nerd. But when some sports fan can name who scored this goal in 2002 agains this team he sometimes even gets complimented for such devotion.

I always saw that Hardcore Sports fans and "nerds" had a lot in commen. And I love that Bob made a full episode about this.

Sutter Cane:Honestly, i really really hope this isn't meant seriously. Knowing this site, i'm inclined to believe it is, but I've seen far too many people act like this in real life to write it off. I really just don't understand why people can't accept that others have different interests, and that it doesn't make someone better or worse than anyone else (Coming from someone who loves sports and nerd stuff).

It was serious. It's a stupid comparison. But of course, saying that a comparison isn't valid automatically means I can't accpet different people have different intersts and this makes them a worse person. That's exactly what I said.

It's really shot down by one huge problem; one is REAL.

If you can't tell the difference between a costume (imitating fiction) and a sports jersey (showing support for a group of real people) then there's something wrong with your perception of the world. The point is entirely stupid to say it's a "costume" just because it's a reproduction.

I totally get what you're saying and have a pretty close concurrence to it, but a huge aspect of the difference between nerds and sports...did we decide "sports nerds" was what we'd call them?

A big difference between nerds and sports nerds is the people on the furthest outside of the prism. The hardest-core nerds are not people who should go out in public. The hardest-core sports nerds are obnoxious, yes, but are obnoxious in public. At the stadium.

To put it even more bluntly and stereotypically: There are no pocket protectors in fantasy football.

Does that mean I think these two shouldn't coexist? Hell no. I'm all about harmony. And perhaps the worst of each group could maybe pull the worst of the other group into the middle. But the worst nerds are weird in a way that most of the rest of society doesn't like while sports nerds don't have that stigma.

And this is coming from a guy who isn't a nerd or a sports nerd at all. Yet I but still have to explain to people that my Xbox can be played by people who go outside and I can cheer for a team without having my heart broken if they lose.

(Because the real problem isn't with the nerds. It is with mainstream culture's depiction of nerds.

It was serious. It's a stupid comparison. But of course, saying that a comparison isn't valid automatically means I can't accpet different people have different intersts and this makes them a worse person. That's exactly what I said.

It's really shot down by one huge problem; one is REAL.

If you can't tell the difference between a costume (imitating fiction) and a sports jersey (showing support for a group of real people) then there's something wrong with your perception of the world. The point is entirely stupid to say it's a "costume" just because it's a reproduction.

Well yes, the initial costume argument bob made was weak.You should also realize that costumes CAN be based off of of real people as well, but that's beside the point. What bothered me was how you and the person you quoted act like all people with nerdy interests (such as comics and anime and even coslay to an extent) are nothing bust basement dwellers and losers. I mean that first guy actually says

Nerds sit in cos play clothes watching anime on the it internet and masturbating furiously.

and you follow it up by calling people who like cosplay "basement dwellers". I in fact know several people that are into cosplay, and they are just as sociable as anyone else.

Sutter Cane:Well yes, the initial costume argument bob made was weak.You should also realize that costumes CAN be based off of of real people as well, but that's beside the point. What bothered me was how you and the person you quoted act like all people with nerdy interests (such as comics and anime and even coslay to an extent) are nothing bust basement dwellers and losers. I mean that first guy actually says

Nerds sit in cos play clothes watching anime on the it internet and masturbating furiously.

and you follow it up by calling people who like cosplay "basement dwellers". I in fact know several people that are into cosplay, and they are just as sociable as anyone else.

Bob is mostly showing the extremes of sport fandom, why would we not reply with the extremes of nerds? If the characteristics of a group are supposedly most evident in the most "devoted" (for lack of a better word) why is what we're using to argue different?

And it seems that what you're saying is, you have no opposition to our point, but to our wording, correct?

and you follow it up by calling people who like cosplay "basement dwellers". I in fact know several people that are into cosplay, and they are just as sociable as anyone else.

Bob is mostly showing the extremes of sport fandom, why would we not reply with the extremes of nerds? If the characteristics of a group are supposedly most evident in the most "devoted" (for lack of a better word) why is what we're using to argue different?

And it seems that what you're saying is, you have no opposition to our point, but to our wording, correct?[/quote]Yes, exactly. It's the parts that seems like stereotyping that i had an issue with, not the point that you were making

HentMas:actually that is NOT a good pointthere is actually ONE MAYOR DIFFERENCE between sports fans and "geeks/nerds/watever"

the sports fans support and show appreciation for REAL PEOPLE

"Superman" is "Babe Ruth"? thats not right, superman never existed, Babe ruth on the other hand is a REAL sports hero, he DID played and showed superiority, Superman comes from the imagination of some guy

that is the Difference.

Yet they've both done the exact same amount of good for people.

By this logic it's actually more impressive for Superman since he has managed to inspire people without ever actually existing.

Another excellent social commentary from Bob. Keep up the good work! Kudos to you and Extra Credits for shining light into the strange and interesting social reactions to the gaming sub-culture... Bravo!

Soo true! But there is no need to bring the 2 nerd versions together, I know a lot of athletic nerds. We just have to wait our turn, in a few years, anyone not wearing a ST costume will be looked at funny!!

Generally, there's only one common thread that blends all of these types together, whether it's a biological one, genetics, beliefs or whatever.

Problem is that it's this thread they're known by, and it's the same thread that makes other behaviour more apparent.

So you're a woman - you like shoes, wear makeup, are concerned about your body etc.

And here's where it gets interesting - because even the women who don't do that sometimes feel they should. Women and the colour pink is as polar as it is with men. It's either "I MUST HAVE" or "I MUST NOT HAVE" - even if your thoughts towards it are "meh".

The Nerd thread is misplaced passion. We're all uptight. English people doubly so because we've also got the English thread. That means we'll tend towards certain things - OCD, telling stories about our best ever...

Sports nerds, however, have got their passion in a place where passion is expected. It's not weird to have a hockey shirt because "HOCKEY RULES!"...and there's the misplaced passion.

To be honest, I freak myself sometimes with returning to childhood everytime a really good bit of Doctor Who comes on, but them's the breaks. The main reason Nerd nerds and Sports nerds don't get on is that we do something while they watch something.

Can you imagine watching a game of D&D? Yawn. That's where the thread unravels and why we'll never truly get on. Even with Blood Bowl.

HentMas:actually that is NOT a good pointthere is actually ONE MAYOR DIFFERENCE between sports fans and "geeks/nerds/watever"

the sports fans support and show appreciation for REAL PEOPLE

"Superman" is "Babe Ruth"? thats not right, superman never existed, Babe ruth on the other hand is a REAL sports hero, he DID played and showed superiority, Superman comes from the imagination of some guy

that is the Difference.

Yet they've both done the exact same amount of good for people.

By this logic it's actually more impressive for Superman since he has managed to inspire people without ever actually existing.

actually its more in "par" with people thinking "HEY!! ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS A GREAT MAN!" and another one saying "HEY!!! SUPERMAN WAS A GREAT MAN!!!"

they are pushing up "imaginary" people, wich in the eyes of this guys say the person doing this is childish and as such doesnt really deserve the "repect" we all other grown ups that actually believe in real things have

oh!!!, before you flame me, i´m just stating what people believe i have had this same discussion beforewithy friends and they actually told me that, dont get me wrong,i cosplay and do a lot of "Nerd" stuff, but i do see their point in that they would rather praise someone "tangible" than something "made up"